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26 October 2008

Opiate of the Masses

No, this post isn't about religion, but about the more modern opiate of television.

My husband is watching a recording of the show Fringe, which is J.J. Abrams's homage to the X-Files: a government agent teams up with a mad scientist (literally - he's a moonbat) and his estranged son to figure out weird-ass crimes and situations. Hubby is hooked, ergo the recordings. Me? All I've got to say is...meh.

I used to love J.J. Abrams. The first two seasons of Alias absolutely rock. Then it started to get waaaaay too weird. Ditto with Lost. Fringe is just jumping right to the waaaaaay too weird part, bypassing any good stuff. Unlikeable characters, or worse, characters we don't care about one way or the other. Strange plots with not enough clues for the viewers. Odd character motivations. An East-Coast setting. Again, meh.

Fortunately, there are shows - Life with Damian Lewis and Supernatural with Jensen Ackles (drool!) and Jared Padelecki come to mind - that are both well-written and well-acted. My husband enjoys both of these, as well, which is why I fail to understand his attraction to Fringe. He does freely admit to being an X-File fanatic in his younger years, which I suppose explains part of it. But the author in me can't get past the wretched mediocrity of the show. If I'm going to spend time in front of the TV, I'd much rather it be for something worth watching. Which is why my husband's in the living room, and I'm in here, typing.

Ah, well. C'est la vie, and c'est la TV.

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